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Was Spontaneous Generation Disproved?
- Thread starter Dubio
- Start date
Do you refer to abiogenesis? If so, it hasn't been disproven.
A problem with doing that would be that there are innumerable circumstances to simulate.
Disproof would have to be accomplished by something other than experimentation (I'd guess).
A problem with doing that would be that there are innumerable circumstances to simulate.
Disproof would have to be accomplished by something other than experimentation (I'd guess).
No, spontaneous generation was a theory of biology that proposed some lifeforms sprout from inert matter, like mites from dust or maggots from rotting flesh.
I had to ask though....just in case.
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
Yes. Through the research of Redi and Pasteur.
Spontaneous generation is the idea that life spontaneously comes from dirt, dust, meat, etc. It was an idea proposed by Lamarck based on his research. What he didn't know was that infected meat contains larvae and such from the air. Not until proper sterilization methods were invented could this error be confirmed.
painted wolf
Grey Muzzle
Yes, spontaneous generation has been disproved.
Abiogenesis is not spontaneous generation.
In the most basic terms, abiogenesis is the study of early Earth chemistry and the process that allowed simple organic compounds to form more complex and ultimately self-sustaining reactions.
For example, what is the simplest chain of amino acids that can self replicate and what are the chemical conditions needed for this process to happen.
wa:do
Abiogenesis is not spontaneous generation.
In the most basic terms, abiogenesis is the study of early Earth chemistry and the process that allowed simple organic compounds to form more complex and ultimately self-sustaining reactions.
For example, what is the simplest chain of amino acids that can self replicate and what are the chemical conditions needed for this process to happen.
wa:do
painted wolf
Grey Muzzle
Abiogenesis is the study of the minimal requirements for living systems and how those requirements could be met by the chemistry of the early Earth.
It's also the study of how the chemistry for life formed... such as the origins of amino acids.
Spontaneous generation was whole living things arising suddenly from inanimate matter.... abiogenesis is nothing like that. It's the study of the origins of organic chemistry.
wa:do
It's also the study of how the chemistry for life formed... such as the origins of amino acids.
Spontaneous generation was whole living things arising suddenly from inanimate matter.... abiogenesis is nothing like that. It's the study of the origins of organic chemistry.
wa:do
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
Correction. It was proposed by Aristotle.
Pegg
Jehovah our God is One
no... no one has ever successfully brought dead matter to life.
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
All life is "dead" matter tha is constantly coming alive. This planet has trillions of life forms (humans included) that are alive from matter (matter that is dead in its natural form).
Pegg
Jehovah our God is One
Think of life as an emergent property of matter under some circumstances.so really then, life and matter are not the same.
So they're neither different nor the same.
painted wolf
Grey Muzzle
Actually scientists have created live viruses from chemicals off the shelf.
Now you can certainly argue that viruses aren't properly alive... but every year they get closer to producing artificial life.
The real trick is deciding what counts as properly "alive".
We are "dead" when our cells stop reproducing themselves and our metabolic processes cease.
wa:do
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
Matter is alive to some degree. The difference between something that is alive and something that is dead is really about the composition of the "dead" matter and the processes that are in force. When certain processes stop, then what was "alive" is now considered "dead" by us. But it's a very arbitrary definition when you start looking at microbal life, virus, peptide chains, enzymes, etc.so really then, life and matter are not the same.
Life is more than just matter, but it's not independent of it. Matter is a requirement for life as we know it, and the process (meta-level) brings it about.
Matter is potential energy (substance, as Thief call it). Process is realized energy (spirit to Thief). Matter and process are both eternal. Their form is constantly changing.
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I would imagine the ID argument to this data is conclusive of all life necessitating a designer, a creator, and an intelligence behind the design in order to make it happen.
I'm a little ornery today. :sorry1:
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
Exactly. It's an arbitrary term without an exact or perfect borders. What constitues which and what is based on our human instincts of categorize and group things after how we recognize them.
And virus, bacteria, yeast, maggots, etc gobbles the "dead" matter away and makes it alive again.
We all eat proteins, sugar, starch, fat, etc, from "dead" animals and plants. Every day. And it's converted to "live" matter in our bodies by the "live" cells.
So have anyone successfully converted "dead" to "live"? Yes. We all do constantly.
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painted wolf
Grey Muzzle
No worries.... it's a valid point.
Basically the counter to that would be to point out that makes god no more powerful than a schmuck with a well funded lab.
And/or that all the scientists did was replicate what nature has already done... if it can be done in a lab then there is no reason it can't have happened naturally.
Especially, if we can show the conditions needed for it to happen in nature.
wa:do
Me Myself
Back to my username
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Conversely, life cannot exist without dead (inorganic) matter.